Vickie L. Ziegler - Professor of German, Penn State University Park

Book Title: Aristocratic Life in Medieval France: The Romances of Jean Renart and Gerbert de Montreuil 1190-1250

Author: John W. Baldwin

Book Description:

My interest in the ordeal, which formed the basis for my own most recent book, Trial by Fire and Battle in Medieval German Literature, began when Professor James Ross Sweeney and I were planning medieval studies conferences. He suggested a semester course, Crimes, Courts and Society in the Middle Ages, culminating in a conference. Asked to do one of the lectures for the course, I made the obvious choice of Isolde's trial by fire. Professor John Baldwin was one of the guest speakers for the course and conference; when I decided to expand ordeals into a book-length project, Professor Baldwin gave me much basic and valuable advice. My intellectual debt to him is apparent throughout the book.